Taishi Ukai is a Japanese magician living in Dubai He started performing magic at a young age and is skilled in different types of magic including stage shows for large audiences and close-up tricks done right in front of people and other events to create unforgettable moments Ukai told Arab News Japan how his love for magic began: “When I was 11 years old my friend showed me a very simple card trick where he snapped his finger to shuffled deck and suddenly my card was on the top of the deck It’s still one of my favorite tricks this this day.” He did his first paid magic show when he was in college “The first time I did magic performance for work was when I was a college student I loved card magic so I worked as a sleight of hand card artist,” he added Ukai is also a member of the famous Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood This is a popular place where VIPs and celebrities from around the world go to watch world-class magic shows Ukai explained how hard it is to get in: “In order to audition to become a Magic Castle magician member you need to be recommended by two or more Magic Castle members,” said Ukai about the academy you will perform magic surrounded by many members all magicians and receive your pass/fail result.” Ukai said: “Being a magician can make you mistakenly think you’re amazing That’s because you get applause and praise every day But it’s the magic itself that’s amazing I use magic as a tool to have a positive impact on people’s lives He also said that magic is special because it creates different emotions in people “The interesting thing about magic is that it can evoke a variety of emotions from the audience It’s also interesting to see how audiences’ reactions differ depending on their country a traditional Japanese magic style from the Edo period Magicians tend to just show off their magic but they need to think about why they are doing it We must not forget that magic is just a tool to make people happy,” Ukai said He visited Dubai for the first time in February 2024 “The first thing that surprised me was the number of foreigners,” Ukai said “Japan is a country where most of the population is Japanese and the official language is only Japanese and I got the impression that there were a lot of very kind people Ukai hopes to perform more Wazuma shows so people in the Middle East can enjoy a new kind of magic that reflects Japanese culture and beauty His advice for those who want to learn magic is simple: “Magic is a form of entertainment that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and genders I hope many of you receive an invitation to Hogwarts near future.” Bergen Tech's Taishi Yamamoto was selected as the North Jersey Baseball Player of the Week Yamamoto drove the Knights (5-7) to a 3-0 week two RBIs and four steals in a 10-1 victory over Kennedy Buonanno was stellar at the plate to help the T-Birds (9-5) to a 2-2 week three runs and four RBIs in a 9-7 win over Demarest Gaskin helped the Panthers (10-3) to a 3-0 week DePaulOgando paced the Spartans (11-2) to a 4-0 week that included securing the No Pellegrino helped the Patriots (8-5) to a 3-1 week capped by 6-5 victories over Wayne Valley and Northern Highlands five RBIs and three steals to help build a three-game winning streak WallingtonPerry led the Panthers (7-5) to a 4-0 week allowing three earned runs and striking out 13 in 14 innings Rosamilia drove the Vikings (6-6) to a 2-1 week featuring two homers and six RBIs in a 14-3 victory over Butler BergenfieldSuero led the Bears (7-7) to a 3-0 week to extend their season-turning winning streak to five games The junior earned wins in 3-2 victories over Teaneck and North Bergen allowing no earned runs and striking out three over 11 innings try refreshing the link or clearing the cache in your browser If you are viewing the poll in the Twitter app try viewing it in the Varsity Aces app or at NorthJersey.com The Trump administration is pressing Japan to cut its trade surplus prompting Tokyo to consider concessions in automobiles Yet there is a far easier way to achieve the same goal—one that also advances Japan’s own national interests: rethink her energy policy that has single-mindedly prioritized decarbonization as the key numbers that follow will demonstrate The dual national goalkeeper is well regarded The United States Men’s National Team has several options at goalkeeper although there is yet to be a standout solution with the 2026 World Cup approaching The competition remains open as the depth chart continues to change as the individual players’ club and international forms rise and fall from month to month An extremely remote possibility is Taishi Brandon Nozawa (野澤 大志 ブランドン) a dual-national who is deeply entrenched in the Japan program and has been making regular progress up the pyramid The 21-year-old is the number one at FC Tokyo and has impressed with his shot-stopping and confidence receiving starter minutes at a position that is usually occupied by veterans describing the period as “a very stimulating and great experience.” His confidence and proactive mindset were on display at the club level and during consistent international call-ups. “Honestly, I want to avoid making any mistakes,” he told Soccer Magazine one mistake can lead to a goal being conceded so I want to approach the match with high concentration but there’s no point in becoming passive out of fear of making mistakes I want to try to stay positive and do what I can I want to approach the match with responsibility and concentration Last year involved “many changes,” as Nozawa was firmly in the plans for FC Tokyo, opening as the primary back-up and rotational goalkeeper for domestic cup fixtures. However, in August, he ascended to the starting role and made a series of appearances, ending the campaign with 17 total matches across all competitions As a result of his success and continued development “I think the fact that my body was in good condition... led to those saves,” he shared following a strong performance in the Tokyo Derby against Tokyo Verdy “I don’t really have any particular ups or downs in my emotions The most important thing is that I enjoy being a goalkeeper and I think that’s what’s connected to my recent performance I’ve really sorted out what it is that I want to do and I’m approaching each game with that in mind Since there can only be one goalkeeper in a match I think it’s important for me to be grateful that the manager chose me.” the program named him to the roster for the recent Olympic Games although he failed to feature during the run to the quarterfinal round with quick decision-making and audacious actions Please log in and check your service registration status.To cancel your subscription 1) === '|') document.write("&#"+unescape(l[i].substring(1))+";");else document.write(unescape(l[i]));} Tsutsui launched the original manga in February 2017, and ended it in December 2020 Shueisha published the manga's 21st and final compiled book volume in March 2021 The franchise's first original video anime (OVA) shipped with the manga's 14th volume in November 2019. The second OVA shipped with the manga's 16th volume in April 2020 Tsutsui recently launched the Syd Craft: Love Is a Mystery (Syd Craft no Saishū Suiri manga in Weekly Shonen Jump on November 18. Shueisha and Viz Media both release the manga in English simultaneously on the MANGA Plus service and Shonen Jump app The global economy has been jolted by a new round of Trump tariffs along with an additional "reciprocal tariff" pegged to bilateral trade imbalances this would result in an effective cumulative tariff of 34% While implementation of the reciprocal tariff has been delayed for 90 days Japan now finds itself in a critical window of negotiation Washington may push Tokyo to increase agricultural imports or influence currency policy to strengthen the yen But a more strategic and mutually beneficial path lies in the energy sector—a domain where U.S Rather than viewing these tariffs as a threat Japan should treat them as a wake-up call to reassess its energy and industrial policy The country’s current “Green Transformation” (GX) initiative aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 heavily investing in solar and wind energy these sectors are overwhelmingly dominated by China Over 90% of the world’s solar panels and more than half of its wind turbines are produced there Japan’s green energy push is subsidizing Chinese industry—while reducing demand for fossil fuels much of which could be supplied by the United States Redirecting energy imports toward American oil and gas would simultaneously enhance Japan’s energy security and improve the U.S trade balance—directly addressing one of the Trump administration’s key concerns Given Washington’s ongoing economic decoupling from China a Japanese pivot away from China-centered green energy technologies would be welcomed The Japanese government plans to mobilize a staggering ¥150 trillion ($1 trillion)—roughly 3% of national GDP—in public and private investment over the next decade to support the GX initiative such massive capital deployment will likely enrich Chinese manufacturers while further eroding Japan’s industrial base Rather than funneling resources into sectors dominated by China Japan should reallocate this investment into fossil fuel infrastructure such as natural gas power in coordination with American energy companies Such a shift would strengthen bilateral ties and serve the broader strategic interests of both nations Washington has repeatedly signaled its interest in increased Japanese investment—especially in U.S stands to gain by taking equity stakes in American fossil fuel projects Alaska’s gas fields have been floated as one potential joint venture Even if individual projects prove financially uncertain Scaling up these imports and expanding supporting infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific would create a mutually beneficial supply chain Japan’s world-class engineering ability would help building energy infrastructure for the high-growth markets throughout Indo-Pacific thereby providing opportunity for American energy producers This would directly support Washington’s "Energy Dominance" doctrine—to unleash the U.S.’s vast energy resources for the prosperity and alliance-building Any large-scale pivot toward fossil fuels would inevitably mean major deviation from the existing net zero policy by Japan The Trump administration and Republican leadership—including figures such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Chris Wright—have made it clear that they reject the climate agenda of the Biden era “Energy Dominance” is inseparable from national prosperity and global leadership Japan’s current climate policy—including targets of a 46% emissions cut by 2030 and 73% by 2040—mimics the now-abandoned goals of the Biden administration These commitments neither serve Japan’s economic interests nor its geopolitical reality under President Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement Leaving the agreement would free Japan not only to pivot toward fossil energy domestically but re-engage in overseas fossil fuel development projects—many of which are currently constrained by treaty obligations—and signal to Washington that Japan is serious about strategic realignment While Trump has often zeroed in on trade imbalances his broader team understands a deeper truth: a strong Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby has emphasized Japan’s importance as a manufacturing and defense partner to complement the U.S Washington does not want to see Japanese industrial capacity decline—it wants Japan to thrive Vance openly criticized Germany’s heavy reliance on renewables blaming it for deindustrialization and national vulnerability He would likely view Japan’s path with similar alarm Instead of spending 3% of GDP annually on green technologies sourced from China Japan should co-invest with the United States in expanding fossil fuel production and infrastructure both at home and across the Indo-Pacific Japanese manufacturers would regain momentum Taishi Sugiyama is the Research Director at the Canon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS) in Japan.  In the latest case of Westerners trying to ‘improve’ the work of a Japanese creator the English-language localizers at Viz Media have awkwardly hamfisted an instance of modern-day slang into Syd Craft: Final Reasoning RELATED: Viz Media’s English Localizers Force Mansplaining Reference Into Latest ‘Twin Star Exorcists’ Chapter Created by We Never Learn mangaka Taishi Tsutsui Syd Craft: Final Reasoning is a Rom Com-Mystery manga that revolves around the exploits of the titular Syd Craft a great detective and hopeless romantic who often ignores the mysteries around him in favor of attempting to find love in the style of Sophia’s Unforgiveable Love a popular romance novel that he considers to be his personal ‘romance bible’ Assisting Syd in his detective work is one Elio Oleyn who came under the love-obsessed sleuth’s employ after answering an ad for a specifically male assistant (as Syd himself has trouble talking to women) due to the naïve great detective focusing on maintaining their hard tough image Syd has yet to realize that his eager assistant is actually the female author of Sophia’s Unforgivable Love herself Having volunteered for the position after becoming enamored with the detective following his clearing of her name from false criminal charges Elio attempts to temper her feelings for Syd by writing them down anytime they pop up (and later assembling these love notes into full-blown novels and publishing them for the world to read RELATED: Viz Media Equates ‘Lolicon’ To Pedophilia In English Localizations Of ‘Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead’ Manga And Anime And it is in relation to Elio’s true identity that Viz’s localizers have struck again ‘The Great Detective and Secret Reverence‘ after being knocked out and struck unconscious by an unknown member of a serial arsonist group that Syd is currently pursuing Elio has an unconscious flashback to her first meeting with the detective Following a recap of Syd’s aforementioned clearing of her name Elio’s memory turns to her discovery of his ‘Help Wanted’ ad and her decision to work alongside him despite her female gender upon realizing that Syd is only looking to “a physically fit male” to help him Elio dons her now-signature hat and takes it upon herself to do what she can to secure the job as his assistant – even if it means hiding her true gender In Viz’s English language take on the chapter Elio steels herself to take on a gender-swapped alter ego “If I’m going to learn beside my revered great detective gender is something I shall not need – I mean Elio’s declaration does not feature that last bit of ‘modern Western slang’ Rather, as translated by request courtesy of Twitter user @waakaruman Tsutsui intended for the young assistant to utter the more grounded proclamation “If I could study alongside my beloved detective Syd Craft my gender as such is not isn’t ne…Isn’t necessary!” Manga Plus or Taishi Tsutsui have yet to comment on this localization rewrite for fans who may have discovered this series by way of this article new chapters of Syd Craft: Final Reasoning release every Sunday at 10 AM EST/7 AM PST on Shueisha’s Manga Plus app (Japanese) and Viz’s Shonen Jump app (English) NEXT: ‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’ Creator Hirohiko Araki Express Concern Regarding AI’s Effect On Manga: “We’re Going To See An Increasingly Shady World Filled With Scammers Exploiting It” More About: Taishi Moto teeing-off on the third hole at Oakland Hills' North Course in the opening round United States: Japan’s Taishi Moto and China’s Zhou Ziqin were fast out of the starting blocks at the 76th US Junior Amateur Championship Moto and Zhou both returned two-under-par 68s to gain a share of equal seventh place at Oakland Hills Country Club Zhou was in the half of the 264-strong field that played the South Course which will be used for match play beginning on Wednesday the South Course’s nickname given by 1951 US Open champion Ben Hogan the top-rated player in the field at 39th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) finished with a one-over 71 on the South Course Of the other Asia-Pacific ‘heavyweights’ in the starting line-up Thai Ratchanon 'TK' Chantananuwat (57th in the WAGR) signed for a 74 on the South Course his scorecard scarred with a quadruple-bogey eight at the 16th Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Minh (79th in the WAGR) is tied for 58th after a 72 on the North Course There were encouraging starts for Korean 15-year-old An Seong-hyeon and New Zealand’s 18-year-old Joshua Bai who triumphed in The R&A Junior Boys' Open at Kilmarnock (Barassie) last week showed no signs of jet-lag as he carded a one-under 69 on the South Course highlighted by an eagle-two at the 496-yard 14th three bogeys and a triple-bogey six at the par-three ninth The first player from the United Arab Emirates to participate in a US Junior Amateur 17-year-old Rayan Ahmed returned an 81 on the South Course Nine-time USGA champion and three-time US Junior Amateur champion Tiger Woods was in the gallery on Monday watching his 15-year-old son Charlie qualified for the championship at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Florida last month where he shot a one-under 71 to earn medallist honours The second and final round of stroke play will take place on Tuesday the field will be cut to the low 64 scorers for match play Match play continues from Wednesday until Saturday’s 36-hole championship match The field includes a total of 43 representatives from 16 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation member countries – China (11) Yuji Nishida scored a game-high 21 points as medal hopeful Japan beat Argentina 3-1 to grab its first win in the men's volleyball at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday Looking to end its 52-year absence from the Olympic podium Japan bounced back from its five-set opening-match defeat to Germany by seeing off the South Americans 25-16 25-23 at South Paris Arena to move up to second in Pool C Japan lefty Nishida set the tone with five aces in his 10 opening-set points helped his team come back from 16-9 down to snatch the second set before Nishida shone again in the fourth but we've always fought through adversity," Nishida said "I'm relieved to have come away with a win." Eighth-ranked Argentina was led by Facundo Conte's 19 points and 16 from Bruno Lima but fell to its second straight defeat which beat Germany 3-2 on Tuesday to make it two wins from two The top two ranked teams in each pool and the two best third-ranked teams qualify to the quarterfinals Olympics: Japan women defeated by Poland in Paris volleyball opener Olympics: Japan lose tight opener to Germany in men's volleyball To have the latest news and stories delivered to your inbox Simply enter your email address below and an email will be sent through which to complete your subscription Please check your inbox for a confirmation email Thank you for reaching out to us.We will get back to you as soon as possible Shueisha's MANGA Plus service revealed on Thursday that manga creator Taishi Tsutsui (We Never Learn) will launch a new manga titled Syd Craft no Saishū Suiri in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump on November 18 MANGA Plus will publish an English version of the manga simultaneously with the Japanese version Update: Viz Media is also releasing the manga in English on its Shonen Jump app simultaneous with the Japanese release. Both Viz Media and MANGA Plus are releasing the manga with the English title Syd Craft: Love Is a Mystery Can the great detective Syd Craft solve his own case of unfulfilled love?! Read Syd Craft: Love Is a Mystery, Ch. 1 in Shonen Jump for free! https://t.co/fJAJWp6dxC pic.twitter.com/SB6XPJxa5P 【NEW SERIES】(For English Series)Heart-fluttering detective/romantic comedy"Syd Craft: Love Is a Mystery" Chap 001by Taishi Tsutsui @Taishi_Tsutsui https://t.co/gTo5oG2GF2 pic.twitter.com/YcoXAzaiaS Tsutsui launched the We Never Learn (Boku-tachi wa Benkyō ga Dekinai) manga in February 2017, and ended it in December 2020 The franchise's first OVA shipped with the manga's 14th volume in November 2019. The second OVA shipped with the manga's 16th volume in April 2020 Source: MANGA Plus' X/Twitter account a sales representative at Shōnan Rubber Industries a researcher at the company's Integrated Development Department who diligently does research about condoms Mori launched the manga in Monthly Shonen Sunday in 2017 Shogakukan published the manga's first compiled book volume in 2018 Source: Monthly Shonen Sunday December issue The reliable blue-red big saver has increasedThe fulfillment experienced in Tokyo and with the national team who experienced the AFC Asian Cup with the Japan national team and the Paris Olympics with the U-23 Japan national team Although he had few opportunities to stand on the pitch wearing the Rising Sun he continued to save the team with repeated big saves in Tokyo evolving into a reliable goalkeeper over the year Taishi Brandon NOZAWA was at the Japan National Stadium as a member of the Japan national team and he was subsequently selected for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 in Qatar and flew directly to the location While the team was conducting preseason camp in Okinawa and Miyazaki the 21-year-old goalkeeper fought with pride for the Rising Sun both as a team member and in representative activities remained unchanged even with the season's kickoff to compete in the final Asian qualifiers for the Paris Olympics I once again set foot in Qatar as a member of the U-23 Japan national team I returned having felt the top level of my generation firsthand making big saves to rescue the team multiple times on the pitch He significantly increased his playing time compared to last season when he made his J1 League debut boldly establishing himself as the rightful guardian of the blue and red "I don't feel like it was busy," despite experiencing many "firsts." What he expressed was hunger and the sense of crisis was far greater than the sense of achievement "I strongly felt that I needed to reach a higher level both mentally and technically The 2024 season may be the reason I experienced both the joy and difficulty of continuing to play matches in Tokyo as well as the frustration of not being able to play while carrying the weight of representing Japan "The most important thing is that I was able to gain experience when I was on the field There were long periods when I wasn't playing in the national team but I realized that the time that contributes most to my growth is when I am playing in matches there are times when I struggle to believe in myself or find it difficult to stand on the pitch or practice but those feelings can only be experienced by those who continue to play in matches so I have to take responsibility and keep standing on the pitch but I felt I needed to quickly acquire the quality and mentality suitable for a player who is on the field." Copyright Tokyo Football Club Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Volume 17 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbot.2023.1207374 This article is part of the Research TopicSwarm Neuro-Robots With the Bio-Inspired Environmental PerceptionView all 7 articles Worms often aggregate through physical connections and exhibit remarkable functions such as efficient migration entangled blobs demonstrate versatile behaviors for their survival; they form spherical blobs and migrate collectively by flexibly changing their shape in response to the environment In contrast to previous studies on the collective behavior of worm blobs that focused on locomotion in a flat environment we investigated the mechanisms underlying their adaptive motion in confined environments We first performed several behavioral experiments to observe the aggregation process and blob motion in confined spaces with and without pegs We found the blob deformed and passed through a narrow passage using environmental heterogeneities we constructed a simple two-dimensional agent-based model wherein the flexible body of a worm was described as a cross-shaped agent that could deform The simulations demonstrated that the behavioral findings were well-reproduced Our findings aid in understanding how physical interactions contribute to generating adaptive collective behaviors in real-world environments as well as in designing novel swarm robotic systems consisting of soft agents worm-shaped organisms form tight entanglements that coordinately perform adaptive locomotory patterns As a slender and flexible individual (“worm”) has an enormous number of bodily degrees of freedom its collective (“worm blob”) takes a variety of forms previous studies on the locomotion mechanisms of swarms of worm-shaped organisms have focused on locomotion in flat environments and it remains unclear how they move in real-world environments which have confined spaces and convex and concave environments by exploiting interindividual physical interactions In the present study, we investigated the mechanism of the adaptive locomotor behavior of worm-shaped organisms in a confined environment. We focused on a group of tubificine worms that exhibit a wide range of behaviors similar to those of blackworms (Ozkan-Aydin et al., 2021) Behavioral experiments were conducted to study adaptive locomotion in artificially created confined environments we built a simple two-dimensional (2D) agent-based model and performed simulations to validate it Our findings can also lead to the development of a novel swarm robotic system consisting of multiple soft and deformable agents The remainder of this paper is organized as follows we investigate blob behavior in a flat environment (Section 2.1) and a confined environment (Section 2.2) Section 2.3 presents the locomotion patterns of one or a few worms on a flat plane to understand the locomotory mechanism Section 2.4 presents our working hypothesis for their adaptive behavior in a confined environment we propose a mathematical model that captures the essence of the blob behavior we demonstrate through simulations that our model can recapitulate behavioral findings with common parameter values we discuss the future perspectives and limitations of our model (Section 5) Tubificine worms (Annelida: Tubificinae) were obtained from Aquarium Time (Miyagi we confirmed that this worm colony mainly consisted of Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri Claparède The worms were kept in a box (350 × 200 × 120 mm) filled with circulating water (height≥200 mm) at 20°C for less than two weeks prior to the experiments As preliminary experiments (Section 2.1), we qualitatively observed in a flat environment whether tubificine worms gathered into blobs similarly to T. tubifex (Deblais et al., 2020; Section 2.1.1) and whether the blob escaped from an aversive stimulus as in blackworms (Ozkan-Aydin et al., 2021; Section 2.1.2) we performed the main experiments in this study; we investigated how a blob moves in confined environments (Section 2.2) we observed the locomotory patterns of one or more worms to understand their locomotion mechanisms (Section 2.3) The experimental arena was set on a flat table that was illuminated from above the experiments were recorded using video cameras (GZ-F270-W The worms aggregated to form blobs in a flat environment An acrylic box (390 × 290 mm; As One 2 mm in height) and scattered worms (60 g) were used Collective behaviors of the tubificine worms' blob on flat planes (C) Collective escape from the repellent [Japanese mustard (S & B Shokuhin Co We investigated whether the blobs exhibited a collective escape from aversive stimuli We used a petri dish with 150 mm diameter filled with water (10 ml We placed a blob (1g) at the center and added Japanese mustard (0.3g; S & B Shokuhin Co Japan; hereafter referred to as mustard) at the edge of the blob as an aversive stimulus The surface of the blob fluctuated significantly when mustard was added (Figure 1C, 0–10 min; Supplementary Video 3) Some worms removed their heads from the blob and moved to the opposite side of the mustard (10 min) It escaped straight from the mustard while maintaining its hemispherical shape (20–30 min) Our expectation is that the one-way trips for case (ii) are smaller than those for case (i) because the narrow path hinders the blob from moving whereas the one-way trips for case (iii) are larger than those for case (ii) because the worms can utilize the pegs to move Sections 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 compare cases (i) and (ii) and cases (ii) and (iii) We made oval (Figure 2A; Major axis 50 mm, minor axis 20 mm, height 15.5 mm), and dumbbell-shaped cases (Figure 2B; Room: Inside radius 10 mm height 15.5 mm; Distance between the centers of the two rooms 30 mm; Narrow aisle: Inside width 10 mm and compared the behaviors of blobs between the two cases We added water 6.39 ml (7 mm height) to the oval and 5.16 ml (7 mm height) to the dumbbell-shaped cases a diameter of ~15 mm to one side of each case we note that the diameter of the room in the dumbbell-shaped case was sufficiently wide to hold the 1 g blob; however the width of the narrow aisle was so narrow that the blob could not pass through while maintaining its hemispherical shape the room diameter is the same as that in the dumbbell-shaped case the blob had to deform so that it passed through the narrow aisle of the dumbbell-shaped case whereas deformation was unnecessary in the oval case An acrylic lid with ventilation holes was placed on each case to prevent evaporation The subsequent progress of 10 trials was observed for 66 h using GoPro9 (time-lapse mode Blob behavior was evaluated quantitatively by counting the number of one-way trips The blob frequently moved back and forth from 0 to 21 h; however Snapshot of the collective locomotory behavior of the tubificine worms' blob in the confined environment (D) Snapshot focusing on the pseudopod formation Figure 4. Trajectories of the blobs' travel. (A) Oval-shape case. (B) Dumbbell-shaped case without pegs. (C) Dumbbell-shaped case with pegs. These trials differ from those shown in Figure 3 We extracted the areas where blobs were present as pixels and calculated the center of mass Figure 5. Histograms of the number of the blob one-way trips. (A) Oval-shape case. (B) Dumbbell-shaped case without pegs. (C) Dumbbell-shaped case with pegs. For each case condition, trips in 10 cases were counted within 66 h. These trials differ from those shown in Figure 3 The histogram of the number of one-way trips of the blobs shows that the maximum number in the oval-shaped case experiment was 15 trips, and the mode was six trips (Figure 5A; Supplementary Video 6). In contrast, the maximum number in the dumbbell-shaped case is three trips, and mode is on one trip (Figure 5B; Supplementary Video 7 Statistical analysis showed that the number of one-way trips of the blobs in the dumbbell-shaped case was significantly lower than that in the oval case (p < 0.01 To examine whether worm blobs could adapt to a confined environment, we created a dumbbell-shaped case in which three pegs (1.5 × 1.5 × 10.0 mm) were anchored to each room (Figure 2C). The anchored pegs were so small that the worms could interact with them. We observed how the behaviors differed between with (Figure 2C) and without (Figure 2B) pegs Snapshots of representative dumbbell-shaped cases with anchored pegs (Figure 3C; Supplementary Video 8) show that several worms got out of the blob and expanded their bodies toward the opposite room in a similar manner as the condition of the dumbbell-shaped case without pegs (0–5 h) When several worms reached and entwined the pegs at their destination other worms got out from the blob and joined a group of worms that had already reached the peg (5–10 h) This resulted in the formation of elongated worm bundles we refer to this bundle as a “pseudopod.” The remaining blob was probably pulled by the pseudopod and deformed considerably and the entire group was moved to another room (10.1–10.2 h) The blob was returned to the initial room using the same process (10.6–12.5 h) These results suggest that the blob can perform effective locomotion in a confined environment such as a peg that is useful for locomotion The blob first stayed on the initial side of the case from 0 to 17 h one-way trips (17–21.5 h) were performed it remained on one side for a while (21.5–47 h) The histogram of the number of one-way trips of the blob in the case with pegs shows that the maximum number was five trips, and the mode was on one trip (Figure 5C; Supplementary Video 7 Statistical analysis showed that the number of one-way trips of the blobs in the case with pegs was significantly larger than that in the case without pegs (p < 0.05 Summarizing Sections 2.2.1 and 2.2.2, worms tend to form hemispherical blobs in open spaces; thus, it is not feasible to pass them through an aisle with a width shorter than the diameter of the blob (Figure 5B). However, environmental heterogeneity (the existence of pegs) helped the blob deform and feasibly pass through the narrow aisle (Figure 5C) To understand the mechanism of tubificine worm movement in more detail and to model locomotory behaviors we investigated the locomotory patterns of one (Section 2.3.1) and several (Section 2.3.2) worms on a flat plane We also observed the response of the worms to an aversive stimulus (see Section 2.3.3) We present a representative trial for each experiment because we acquired similar tendencies in several trials (C) Worm's response to the repellent mustard Based on the locomotion findings of one or more worms in Section 2.3, we hypothesized that the motion of a blob in a dumbbell-shaped case with pegs (Figures 3C, D, Section 2.2) occurs by the following steps (Figure 7): When a sufficient number of worms come into contact Worms at the edge of the blob keep their heads inside the blob and their tails outside Certain substances that work as repellents are produced by worms which activate their movement and cause some worms to expand their heads out of the blob The elongated worms out of the blob occasionally come into contact with other worms leading to the form of an immature pseudopod This immature pseudopod grows as more worms around it join in This allows worms at the base of the pseudopod to escape and merge with the pseudopod the worms in it pull the blob cooperatively which results in the deformation of the blob This deformation facilitates the heads of worms in the blob to get out The pseudopod grows through this positive feedback loop When the pulling force of the pseudopod becomes strong enough the entire blob is pulled toward the entwined pegs Our working hypothesis for the collective motion of tubificine worms' blobs the blob was assumed to return to its initial room using the same process we investigate the validity of this hypothesis using mathematical modeling (Section 3) and simulations (Section 4) We constructed a simple two-dimensional agent-based model we provide an overview of the model (Section 3.1) and then provide detailed explanations (Section 3.2) Schematics of the proposed mathematical model: (A) Abstract description of a real tubificine worm expanding (left) and coiling (right) worms are represented by elongated and shortened agents but it promotes entanglement with other agents An expanding agent (left) moves faster than a coiling one (right) Section 2.3 demonstrates that a real worm moves forward by propagating, expanding, and contracting body waves. However, for simplicity in the model, we assumed that an agent moves forward by generating a self-driving force (Figure 8C). It was also assumed that the agent could deform (Figure 8A) and rotate (Figure 8D), based on the finding that a real worm often bends its body and turns (Figure 6) and rotational movements of the agent are expressed as follows: phys represents physical interaction between agents env represents physical interactions between the agent and the walls and between the agent and pegs This section describes the proposed model in detail we explain the deformation and movement of the agent (Section 3.2.1) We then describe the physical interactions between agents (Section 3.2.2) the physical interaction between the agent and the environment is explained (Section 3.2.3) The length li of part of the major axis changes based on the number of contacting agents Ni, considering that real worms tend to assume a coiled posture when in contact with other worms (Figure 1B l̄i denotes the target length of li and is expressed by the following equation: where la and lb are the positive constants Equation (4) indicates that the length of the major axis li becomes shorter as the number of contacting agents Ni increases the lengths of the agent's major and minor axes are equal The worms changed their movement depending on the situation (Figures 1B, 6B, C). They became more active as the number of worms in contact with them decreased (Figures 1B, 6B) and as the concentration of aversive stimuli increased (Figure 6C) we introduce this effect as the activity level Gi where f(x) denotes the saturation function α and β are positive constants and A(ri) represents the intensity of the aversive stimuli at ri We hypothesized that a certain repellent substrate would be released from the worms (Section 2.2.1) we assumed that the aversive stimuli A(r) were composed of two types: substances released from each agent and mustard added to the behavioral experiment Based on gradual staining of the confined space water (Supplementary Videos 6, 7) the term as(r) is described by the following reaction-diffusion equation: The propulsion of an agent along its major axis Fi where η is a positive constant and ti denotes a unit vector representing the direction of the major axis Gi and li are multiplied on the right-hand side because it is natural to consider that the propulsion force is larger when the agent is more active rand in Equation (3) is expressed by the following equation: where dR is a positive constant and ζi is a uniform random number between −1 and 1 where Ti is a uniform random number between tmin and tmax The term Wi, chem functions such that the major axis of agent i turns in the direction in which the aversive stimuli decrease (Figure 6C) θ¯i denotes the absolute angle of the direction in which aversive stimuli decrease at ri; that is θ¯i=arg(−∇A|r=ri) Gi is multiplied by the right side of Equation (11) assuming that agents turn strongly when active Real worms interact physically when in contact with one another. This interaction is very complex because the force generated by entanglement (Figures 1A, B) is not a simple frictional force the interaction force between agents i and j is modeled by a combination of the viscous friction force and the force required to maintain the distance between the agents which denotes the entanglement: where q1 is a viscosity friction coefficient and rij=rj−ri, and r^ij=rij/|rij| The first term on the right side of Equation (12) denotes the viscous friction force The second term works such that the distance between agents i and j does not become too large or too small Next, we explain the physical interaction term for rotational motion Wij, phys. The elongated worms in the pseudopods aligned their bodies when in contact with one another (Figure 3D), whereas worms inside the blob were randomly oriented (Figure 3D) The term sin{2(θj−θi)} represents the nematic interaction; that is the relative angle between agents i and j approaches either 0 or π so that they are aligned The terms (li−a) and (lj−a) indicate the extent to which agents i and j are elongated In this model, the agents interact with the pegs and walls (Figure 9) The pegs are modeled as circles of radius rc which do not move The physical interaction between the agent and environment for translational motion Fi env is expressed by the following equation: The first term, Fi, peg represents the interaction force between agent i and the peg it contacts (Fi, peg = 0 when agent i does not contact any peg). This force consists of the viscous friction force and the force from the peg to the agent (Figure 9A); thus Figure 9. Interaction between the agent and the environments. (A) Pulling force against the peg. (B) Repulsion force from the wall. This represents the reaction force from the wall when the worm collides with the wall. (C) Adjustment the angle θi when the agent touches the peg. (D) Alignment the angle θi when the agent touches the wall. This represents the observation that earthworms are propelled along the wall they touch (Figure 3D) (E) Shortening of the length li when the head end touches the wall This prevents the agent which touches the wall from penetrating it The second term Fi, wall in Equation (14) represents the repulsion force from the wall with which agent i contacts (Fi, wall = 0 when agent i does not contact any wall). This is simply described as a force proportional to the penetration length to the wall (Figure 9B) where kW is a positive constant and rW.i denotes the nearest point of the wall surface from ri The physical interactions with the environment for the rotational motion of agent i peg represents the interaction with the peg which agent i contacts where dP is a positive constant and θip denotes the angle of the center of the contacting peg p viewed from ri; that is, θip = arg(rp−ri). This term operates such that agent i is aligned in the direction of the contact peg (Figure 9C) When agent i does not contact any of the pegs represents the interaction with a wall which agent i contacts which is expressed by the following equation: where dW is a positive constant and θu is the absolute angle of the wall that agent i contacts. This term operates such that the agent i aligns with the contact wall (Figure 9D), based on the finding that worms move along walls (Figure 3D) When agent i does not make contact with any walls In addition, when the head end of agent i touches the wall, li is forcibly changed so that it does not penetrate the wall (Figure 9E) To imitate the blob-formation experiment in a box (Figure 1A) we set a square-shaped wall of length 0.183 m on one side 000 agents were randomly deployed throughout the field and their angles were randomly distributed No external aversive stimulus was added in this experiment; that is The agents elongated their major axes and attracted the neighboring axes to form small blobs (Figure 10A, 0–0.056 h; Supplementary Video 13). The blobs grew by absorbing the surrounding agents and attracted one another to form larger blobs (0.056–0.39 h). Therefore, the number of blobs decreased. These results are consistent with biological findings (Figure 1A) Dark green indicates the intensity of aversive stimuli A(r) We simulated collective escape from the repellent mustard (Figure 1C) Simulations were performed using open boundaries were initially located within a circle of radius 0.0125 m centered on the origin such that they formed a blob at the beginning The concentration gradient of real mustard was simulated by setting the stimulus term am(r) to The agents at the edge of the blob begin to expand their bodies and move their heads out of the blob because they have a small number of contacting agents Ni (Figure 10B, 0–0.056 h; Supplementary Video 14) They turned their heads in the negative direction of the x axis to which the aversive stimulus decays (0.056–0.56 h) they dragged the other agents so that the blob moved straight toward the direction in which the stimulus decays (0.56–4.4 h) the simulation qualitatively reproduced responses to an aversive stimulus We investigated whether our model could reproduce the behavior described in Section 2.2. Specifically, the simulations were performed using boundary conditions that imitated the cases used in the experiments (Figure 2): oval-shaped boundary (Major axis; 0.05 m and a dumbbell-shaped boundary (Major axis; 0.05 m minor axis: 0.025 m) consisting of two regular octagons connected by a narrow passage Simulations were performed by placing several pegs in the rooms of the dumbbell-shaped case Two hundred and fifty agents with randomly set angles were placed on the left side within a circle of radius 0.0125 m to form the blob No aversive stimuli were added in this experiment; that is and then they entwined pegs at the destination (0–1.7 h) the blob deformed and moved to another room (1.7–10.0 h) the blob returned to its initial room using a similar process (10.0–21.1 h) Dark green indicates the intensity of the aversive stimuli A(r) These results are consistent with those of biological experiments (Section 2.2) Histograms of the number of one-way trips of the blob on the simulations This strategy allows the blob to survive in harsh environments elegans cannot be tightly entangled because of its small aspect ratio Such comparisons among different organisms are important for a systematic understanding of the principles inherent in physical-connection-based swarms and require further validation the behavior of other organisms in confined environments remains largely unclear; thus the applicability of our findings to other organisms needs to be investigated in the future From an engineering perspective, the proposed mechanism for tubificine worms could lead to the development of a new type of swarm robotic system. In contrast to previous swarm robotic works that used rigid robots (Brambilla et al., 2013; Hamann, 2018; Schranz et al., 2020) tubificine worms can change their behavior in a variety of ways through the deformation and entanglement of their soft bodies and can adapt flexibly to unstructured environments we expect that a swarm of soft and elongated robots that implement the tubificine worm mechanism will function in complex natural environments where conventional swarm robot systems made of rigid robots cannot work it is not surprising that tubificine worms release nitrogenous compounds that self-induce avoidance behaviors and the identification of self-induced aversive substances is a topic for future research it is difficult to reproduce the irregularity in our model This discrepancy may have originated from the heterogeneity of worm properties such as locomotor abilities and responses to stimuli the timing of the initiation of the blob's motion may depend on the properties of the worm this requires further clarification in future studies the agent in our model did not have bending softness some of the behaviors exhibited by real worms may be difficult to reproduce a real worm can move by aligning its body with the heterogeneity of its environment it is difficult to reproduce this behavior in our model Extensions to our mathematical model are required to address these issues The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary material further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author and RK proposed the mathematical model and all authors refined it TM and DW conducted the biological experiments TM wrote the code and performed mathematical simulations All authors gave final approval for publication and agreed to be held accountable for the work performed therein This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (B) (No the Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research [Fostering Joint International Research (B) Munehiro Asally of the University of Warwick; and Dr and Tomoe Maeta of Tohoku University for their helpful suggestions Akifumi Ohtaka of Hirosaki University for the anatomical identification of the worms The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbot.2023.1207374/full#supplementary-material CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar elegans colony formation as a condensation phenomenon PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Chemosensory detection of aversive concentrations of ammonia and basic volatile amines in insects CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Phase separation by entanglement of active polymerlike worms Dynamics of pattern formation and emergence of swarming in Caenorhabditis elegans PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Stability and responsiveness in a self-organized living architecture CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Host recognition by entomopathogenic nematodes: behavioral response to contact with host feces CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Mechanisms of cooperation in cancer nanomedicine: towards systems nanotechnology CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Lepidopterism-oak processionary caterpillar dermatitis: appearance after indirect out-of-season contact Fire ants self-assemble into waterproof rafts to survive floods Collective dynamics in entangled worm and robot blobs Evidence against a hydrodynamic function for fish schools PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Thermoregulatory morphodynamics of honeybee swarm clusters Swarm robotic behaviors and current applications CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Evolution of self-propelled objects: from the viewpoint of nonlinear science elegans collectively forms dynamical networks Recent discoveries of armyworms in japan and their species identification using DNA barcoding Local and spatially coordinated movements in dictyostelium discoideum amoebae during chemotaxis Ammonia excretion in the marine polychaete eurythoe complanata (annelida) Movement behaviour of two social urticating caterpillars in opposite hemispheres Living on a surface: swarming and biofilm formation CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar and dragging: mechanism for adaptive locomotion of tubificine worm blobs in a confined environment Received: 17 April 2023; Accepted: 24 July 2023; Published: 29 August 2023 Copyright © 2023 Mikami, Wakita, Kobayashi, Ishiguro and Kano. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Takeshi Kano, dGthbm9AcmllYy50b2hva3UuYWMuanA= Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish Athletes at the Paris Olympics were subjected to insults and harsh criticism on social media during the Games please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent By Takaaki Suzuki and Cynthia Yumiko Staub / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers Such posts have become increasingly common amid international competitions and many comments during the Paris event judged the athletes Volleyball player Taishi Onodera was barraged with insults after he failed to make a match point serve in the final set of Japan’s narrow loss in the men’s volleyball quarterfinals at the Paris Games on July 5 “Blame yourself and retire” was one example of the posts that appeared said on his X account that he also received direct messages insulting him Social media posts told race walker Ayane Yanai things like “you’re selfish” after she announced that she would not participate in the women’s 20-kilometer event in order to concentrate on the mixed relay marathon “I was hurt by the harsh words from many people,” Yanai said on X on July 29 Uta Abe burst into tears after losing by ippon in the second round of the 52-kilogram division of women’s judo “You’re a disgrace as a martial artist,” one comment said The Yomiuri Shimbun analyzed 112 posts that insulted seven Japanese athletes on social media platforms such as X and Instagram It found that 60% of these posts judged the athletes saying things like “you’re a disgrace as a Japanese person” and “your conduct is unbecoming for a martial artist.” The Yomiuri also saw that 20% of the posts were unrelated to sports Instead they ridiculed athletes’ appearance people don’t realize their posts are insulting because they assume athletes accept criticism as part of being a pro,” said Associate Professor Shinichi Yamaguchi of the International University of Japan to consider whether you would want to be told something like that.” The onus on social media operators will likely increase A bill to oblige major operators to swiftly deal with insults was passed in May Social media has become an important tool for athletes to interact with their fans Athletes share their opinions and the appeal of the events it has so far been difficult to prevent insulting posts so measures have mainly been taken to ease the psychological harm to athletes during the Paris Games The International Olympic Committee installed a “mind zone” in the Olympic village for the first time to help athletes relax and mentally prepare for competition The IOC also introduced an AI system to detect slanderous posts on athletes’ accounts said: “Athletes put their lives on the line metaphorically and sometimes literally,for the Olympics It’s understandable to evaluate their performance in the event of a loss but I wish people would stop the slander and abuse.” Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun Fixtures & Results, Trainings Players & Staff Stadium Hometown Activities Frequently Asked Questions Taishi Brandon NOZAWA and Ryotaro ARAKI will appear on TV Asahi's "Love! [Broadcast Station/Program Name]TV Asahi "Love! J-League"Broadcast Date and TimeSeptember 13 2024 (Friday) 25:15～※Broadcast within the above time on TV Asahi※For residents in other regions please check the broadcast schedule of each affiliated station.※Broadcast content may be subject to change 【Participants】Taishi Brandon NOZAWARyotaro ARAKI 【Content】Interview appearance in the special project for the U-23 Japan national team at the Paris Olympics I talked about reflections on the tournament 【Program URL】https://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/chant-j/ Holiday) Broadcast NHK-BS 'Soccer Garden' Appearance Announcement of Kota TAWARATSUMIDA and Naohiro ISHIKAWA CG J' National Venue Report & Player Appearance Announcement and Kei KOIZUMI appearing on Fuji TV's 'MONDAY FOOTBALL Minna no J' broadcast on 4/21 (Mon) Announcement of article publication in the parenting information media 'KIDSNA STYLE' Announcement of player Kei Sato and Naohiro ISHIKAWA's appearance on NHK BS 'J League Time' broadcast on 3/30 (Sun) Announcement of Taishi Brandon NOZAWA and Masataka KOBAYASHI's appearance on TBS 'KICK OFF Announcement of the appearance of players Megumi SATO and Teppei OKA on Fuji TV's 'MONDAY FOOTBALL Everyone's J' broadcast on 3/24 (Monday) Notice of Yuto NAGATOMO's appearance on the Fuji TV program "Thank you Original Sports Rare Plays and Great Plays Award Showa 100th Anniversary Special" airing on 3/22 (Saturday) Lucy Wang, a chemistry concentrator from Marietta The Princeton faculty accepted the nominations of the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing at its April 26 meeting Commencement for the Class of 2021 will take place at Princeton Stadium on Sunday Nakase and Wang are expected to give remarks at the ceremony The honor for Nakase comes a year after another ORFE student, Nicholas Johnson, was named valedictorian for the Class of 2020 Nakase plans to become a doctor and is interested in using mathematical modeling to confront global health challenges he will pursue a master of science in modeling for global health at Oxford University before attending medical school “I was drawn to the program at Oxford because of its focus on mathematical modeling as a way of confronting challenges in global health,” Nakase said “My research focus will be on the modeling of infectious diseases Nakase is the first in his family to attend college. He credited the mentorship of Princeton faculty and research experiences through the Global Health Program with supporting his studies and inspiring his career path “Professor Bryan Grenfell introduced me to the world of infectious diseases and encouraged me as a first-generation college student to pursue my interests in the field,” Nakase said Grenfell is the Kathryn Briger and Sarah Fenton Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Public Affairs “He has also tirelessly supported me in my independent work in infectious diseases by providing valuable insights and finding the time to help me think through the problems.” Nakase’s senior thesis examines the modern challenges of measles control in Vietnam modeling vaccination campaigns under limited health care resources in the country Marc Choisy at the Oxford University Research Clinic in Hanoi Nakase continues to work with Choisy remotely on research modeling measles dynamics in Vietnam “My global health internship was a transformative experience,” he said “It inspired a passion for the modeling of infectious diseases and encouraged me to pursue questions in global health.” The course “Mathematical Modeling in Biology and Medicine,” taught by Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Corina Tarnita “This class fostered a deep appreciation for mathematical modeling particularly for its capacity to add structure and rules to systems whose governing forces remain largely hidden from view,” Nakase said “It remains the principal lens through which I attempt to understand the spread and control of infectious diseases because it offers ways of constructing great complexity from seemingly simple structures this class united my interests in modeling and medicine and thus inspired me to adopt a mathematical modeling approach to my future work in academic medicine.” Wilsey Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering “Professor Massey was incredibly approachable and always delighted to spend time discussing his material with me,” he said Nakase will spend this summer studying questions pertaining to the persistence of measles in the developed world with Grenfell and Jessica Metcalf associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and public affairs he has been a trauma surgery research intern at the Wake Forest School of Medicine and a summer analyst at Rogers Investment Advisors in Tokyo Nakase received the Class of 1939 Princeton Scholar Award and was twice awarded the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society and the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society In addition to his ORFE concentration, Nakase is pursuing a certificate in applications of computing.  He is member of Mathey College as well as a teaching assistant for courses in ORFE and a mentor to incoming engineering students In recollecting his undergraduate experience Nakase said the COVID-19 pandemic has put into perspective how special a place Princeton is amidst devastating loss and the upheaval of our studies and life I came to reflect on how important the conversations with friends whether in dining halls or in in-person discussions I am very grateful for the work of the University to bring us all together once again for this year’s Commencement on campus To celebrate the joys and triumphs of our time at Princeton especially our perseverance through the disruptions of this past year with our classmates is truly special and a privilege for all of us who called Princeton home for the last four years.” To read about Wang, please see this story Developing mathematical and computational tools for making decisions under uncertainty Diversity and Non-Discrimination Princeton University is committed to equal opportunity and non-discrimination we seek talent from all segments of American society and the world and we take steps to ensure everyone at Princeton can thrive while they are here That is the sole rationale and purpose of our diversity and inclusion programs all of which are voluntary and open to all and which comply with federal and state non-discrimination laws Princeton does not discriminate on the basis of race and Princeton does not provide special benefits or preferential treatment on the basis of a protected characteristic © 2024 The Trustees of Princeton University AD Leave a rating/comment#PhotographyBack to ArticlesSHARE Taishi Nakase, the Princeton Class of 2021 valedictorian has been named a Knight-Hennessy Scholar to pursue a medical degree at Stanford University School of Medicine Nakase is among 70 students from around the world to receive full funding to pursue any graduate degree at Stanford the Knight-Hennessy Scholars prepare students to take leadership roles in finding creative solutions to complex global issues “I aspire to join the community of physicians and scientists who work to eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases from the developing world,” he said earned an undergraduate degree in operations research and financial engineering (ORFE) and a certificate in applications of computing He was the first in his family to attend college He spent this past year studying at the University of Oxford for a master’s degree in modeling for global health conducting research related to mosquito-borne viruses and how climate influences their epidemiological dynamics He is also involved in a research project for the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) focused on the mathematical modeling of the introduction of rubella vaccination in Nigeria.   Nakase interned for the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam through Princeton’s Global Health Program He helped develop mathematical models for the deployment of vaccination campaigns in developing countries His Princeton senior thesis examined the modern challenges of measles control in Vietnam the Kathryn Briger and Sarah Fenton Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology He worked on two research problems: the influence of non-pharmaceutical interventions on infectious disease dynamics in metapopulations and the estimation of the transmission potential of rubella in Nigeria “As a student of infectious disease, I have defined for myself a goal that I regard as worthy of all of my energies,” Nakase said in his 2021 valedictory remarks during Princeton’s Commencement “I hope to join the community of men and women who devote their lives to studying and eliminating the biological scourges that continue to threaten human life.” Nakase’s experience also includes time as a trauma surgery research intern at the Wake Forest School of Medicine and a summer analyst at Rogers Investment Advisors in Tokyo He was the recipient of the James Hayes-Edgar Palmer Prize in Engineering and the Frank Castellana Prize in Operations Research and Financial Engineering and a served as a mentor to incoming engineering students Taishi Fukuyama is an artist, producer and serial entrepreneur in the music/tech space who is now working to democratize physical music for independent artists and labels as co-founder and chief marketing officer at Qrates (pronounced “crates”) His passion for vinyl was born from his experiences as an independent artist and producer He was named the first Red Bull SoundClash champion in Japan and has written and produced music for some of Japan and Korea’s top J-pop and K-pop artists an A.I.-powered songwriting assistant; Evoke Music a royalty-free music library made with A.I.; and PRTL (pronounced “portal”) an international representation and development agency for businesses entering the Japanese market Taishi took his music/tech experience and applied it to the vinyl problem creating a crowdfunding platform and end-to-end solution that prioritizes independent artists and labels Based in Tokyo, Taishi lives with his wife and daughter. In his spare time, he enjoys running and natural wines. We caught up with him for our Liner Notes series to learn more about his musical tastes and journey through the years as well as recent work he’s proud of and admired My best friends in elementary school played in the school’s orchestra and I nagged my parents to rent a violin for me so I could spend more time hanging out with them I really fell in love with Leonard Bernstein and I clearly remember being devastated to learn about his passing while sitting in the back seat of my mother’s car I refused to get out until the radio station finished playing his music I remember going to a lot of classical concerts in various hall venues as a kid and eventually dozing off was the basic routine Aside from being an obvious musical genius phonology and syntax in his lecture series “The Unanswered Question,” which he gave while serving as the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University Language and music can be both beautiful and garbage Finding common governing laws that define these states is fascinating and As one also delving into the space of music and A.I. I may end up listening to a playlist on some streaming service but it always starts from interesting people I’ve always been most likely to listen to something that was recommended to me by someone I know and respect and that hasn’t really changed post-internet but dreaming about the concerts and venues that I still haven’t gone to is my favorite thing about concerts I’m always searching for the next best thing so it’s hard for me to settle on just one place I remember playing mind games with myself that were similar to this video where I would conform my physical surroundings in my mind to the music I was listening to as a child If I’m allowed to pat myself on the back here I’m extremely proud of what we’re doing at Qrates We started the service back in 2015 from a small office in Tokyo and now are growing a global team helping independent artists and labels get their music on vinyl Paying out revenue to artists that streaming services cannot and seeing fans light up in a way only a vinyl record can inspire is really rewarding Trevor McFedries’ FWB (Friends With Benefits) community which uses crypto tokens as a pathway to access and rewards for fans rather than simply an NFT to buy just to have it not to mention touring with Katy Perry as a DJ His pulse on technology and culture is amazing I’d love to peek inside his brain if I could A lot of independent artists view syncs as a privilege And they can be a huge opportunity for discovery But remember it’s a transaction; the brand needs your music independent artists need diversified revenue streams far more than bigger stars do Make sure you are paid what you’re worth and never do anything just for the exposure Don’t forget about the independent community and remember that a sync in the right TV show There’s a tendency to view music for syncs as an afterthought and when you approach artists with that mindset This is your opportunity to be a tastemaker Find a band and a song you really believe in If their song takes off because of your sync more artists and labels will want to work with you There’s something about making music and making food which is so primitive there are different rules you’re supposed to follow for different cuisines and the challenge comes from learning them well enough that you can successfully break them and create something new I’m used to mixing up different ingredients to form a new whole there are legacy gatekeepers that define distribution have found innovative ways to disrupt the status quo in creative ways and that really appeals to me as an entrepreneur Liner Notes is our weekly interview series, publishing every Monday, where we chat with folks in the music industry about their creative inspirations, their favorite bands and musicians, and generally what music means to them. For more about Liner Notes, and our Clio Music program, please get in touch. Today's print edition Home Delivery A female pro-wrestler and her agency have reached a settlement with an individual who posted photos on social media focusing on her private parts during one of her matches in a sexual harassment case that saw the individual agree to pay ¥1 million ($6,700) The settlement was reached before the Tokyo District Court on Feb whose name has been withheld for privacy reasons; World Woman Pro-wrestling Diana the agency that manages her wrestling matches; and the individual The identity of the defendant has been withheld in accordance with the settlement agreement.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); The plaintiffs sued the defendant in January 2024 for posting photos taken in a way that sexualized and emphasized parts of her body in April 2023 causing the woman to be “anxious to the point that she cannot concentrate during her matches.” The plaintiffs had sought ¥8.4 million in compensation In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division I'll keep it fair in this review because I have to admit my introduction to Wednesday Campanella came from Oorutaichi's cover of their song “Sand Castle.” Both versions of “Sand Castle” rank high in my all-time favorite songs collection I explored other tunes from the same album “Galapagos” and got hooked on their super creative take on pop “The Bamboo Princess” and “Melos” bring in the usual pop language But here's the kicker—they throw in these intricate and interesting polyphonic melodic ideas and a balanced blend of traditional Japanese instruments with synthesizers and EDM-like sounds especially with their latest album “Neon,” where I didn't find a single song sounding like galapagos But here's the twist—this isn't your typical tale of an artist losing their spark over the years The beloved “Galapagos” album dropped in 2018 while they started their career back in 2013 What I've noticed is that Wednesday Campanella completely overhauls their sound with each album Describing what makes a Wednesday Campanella tune structurally and even jazz—in a way that's super hard to copy and describe the singer's voice is so unique and odd for these genres Fun fact: the producer invited KOM_I to join the group precisely because her vocal style mismatched dramatically with the project they were working on back to the review—the single has just one track It starts with a violin playing a repetitive phrase jazzing things up by layering another violin doing quick little glissandos with a noticeable delay on every second beat An entire EDM orchestra jumps in—thick bass and claps—all backing the singer full throttle Not much changes as the verse leads to the chorus echoing the opening melody followed by the same theme with a touch of Japanese flute offering slight variations and a brief section featuring that classic Japanese pop-rap vibe I'm still a little nostalgic for that Wednesday Campanella vibe of 2018 I'm still throwing out an invite to check out this new single It might perk up cheerful folks and those curious for a fresh take on Synth-pop SAN ANGELO — A San Angelo baker was featured on Food Network's Christmas Cookie Challenge and took home the grand prize of $10,000.  Taishi Ligon began her business, Cookie Joy, on June 30 2017 in San Angelo after spending over 20 years in the dental field Definitely a different career path than cookies," she said The baker competed in season 4 episode 2 of the cookie challenge "That kitchen was beautiful and stocked with everything a baker could ever want so it was really a dream to bake in such an amazing kitchen." Ligon said she was invited to apply to the show's competition by a Food Network producer who found her on Instagram.  got through a pretty intense audition process and was offered the opportunity to compete," she said.  She battled against four other bakers making tie-dye cookies in round one leaving Ligon and two other bakers making cookie imposter platters "Seeing is believing as they decorate cookies that look just like savory holiday appetizers," according to Food Network. "To cement the illusion they have to use classic crudité ingredients like carrots broccoli and cherry tomatoes in their cookie displays." Ligon created a spread of imitation guacamole and tortilla chips "You can't be from Texas and not have an appetizer platter without chips and dip," she said on the show.  Guest judge Gesine Prado joined hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson picking one baker to win the $10,000 prize "I can't even believe this is real life," she said "I started this business with so much faith that it would be successful Getting to not only go on the show but to win is really a sort of validation that chasing a dream was a pretty good idea." Ligon said her business would not be where it is today without her local customers "This community has been incredibly supportive of my business," she said "I'm so appreciative of the people of San Angelo." the Class of 2021 valedictorian and an operations research and financial engineering concentrator from Melbourne He is wearing two stoles — gold for the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) affinity group and green for the first-generation/lower-income (FLi) affinity group an operations research and financial engineering concentrator from Melbourne Australia gave the 2021 Valedictory Address It is one of the greatest honors of my life to be standing before you today I want to start with some words of gratitude To all the faculty who challenged us and encouraged us to pursue our studies to the dining and facilities staff who fed us and kept us safe and to our families and friends who provided us with love in our moments of sorrow and joy Our growth throughout our time at Princeton and this very Commencement Ceremony today could not have been possible without your support I have defined for myself a goal that I regard as worthy of all of my energies I hope to join the community of men and women who devote their lives to studying and eliminating the biological scourges that continue to threaten human life Princeton closed its doors and the course of our young lives changed and I was forced to return to my own.  I hadn’t spent a great deal of time in Melbourne since leaving for college three years before When I left my father at the airport for the 20-hour flight to Princeton as a first year I was determined to carve out my own path and build the life that my father was denied but had always wished for me A life not constricted by financial struggle or the limitations of an unfinished education: the freedom he himself didn’t have.  In the middle of my efforts to secure this new life I was thrown back into the childhood bedroom where I thought I’d never sleep in again staring at screens and seeing the fracturing of the life that we had been working so hard to build I got to sit down and have dinner with my father once again It was just me and him as it had been for many years our shared meals were always a way for us connect across the divide that his long work hours and my ambition created I never expected to have these moments with him I don’t know when I will have them with him next in this remarkably ordinary act of sharing a daily meal my father and I bridged the gap that my years abroad had created This global pandemic has affected us all in different ways grief and even private joys ought to be recognized but I do want to honour this profound time in our lives when our naïve youth was abruptly replaced with a coarse reality filled with both extraordinary loss and ordinary disappointment I am reminded of George Eliot’s words about a young woman’s disappointment at the prospect of her new life: (I quote) “Not that this inward amazement of Dorothea’s was anything very exceptional; many souls in their young nudity are tumbled out among incongruities and left to 'find their feet' among them while their elders go about their business Casaubon is discovered in a fit of weeping six weeks after her wedding some faintness of heart at the new real future which replaces the imaginary and we do not expect people to be deeply moved by what is not unusual That element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency has not yet wrought itself into the coarse emotion of mankind; and perhaps our frames could hardly bear much of it If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heart beat and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.” Dorothea’s feeling of disappointment is by no means extraordinary We have all surely felt some faintness of heart and some true loss within this new reality that the pandemic has thrust upon us the ordinariness and frequency of our feelings does not diminish their significance Our disappointment at the loss of all those things that we had come to think of as our due the uncertainty of our futures and even my unexpected time with my father constitute an epic as good as any My wish for all of us as we move forward with our lives past FitzRandolph Gate and past this terrible pandemic is to find within us a keener sense of sympathy A sympathy that not only turns us towards grand historical feats and game-changing research but stretches forth to the ordinary acts and feelings of individuals that are too often left unremembered and unnoticed A sympathy of feeling for ordinary human life as George Eliot sought to capture in her words I know we are all capable of this sympathy I felt it in the food my father cooked for me as I was struggling with feelings of having lost a portion of my youth I have seen it in the efforts of so many of you as you care for the health of your family your friends and people who you may never see again I have seen it in my professors who acknowledge our challenges and attempt to recreate the intellectual community we had lost I know there is pressure for us to do grand things I feel it too; I don’t think I would be here otherwise is not to change the world but rather to recognise what is extraordinary in the ordinary tragedies of our own lives and those of others and try to honour those small simple acts of kindness that can have so great an effect on those around us As we find our feet in this new chapter in our lives I hope that we can develop the courage to hear the roar that lies on the other side of silence and to live our lives faithfully with sympathy in our hearts we embark on our lives beyond Princeton at once alone and together in the common joy Thank you and congratulations to the amazing Class of 2021 Japan's Taishi Narikuni captured his first title at the world wrestling championships Friday with a technical fall over Zain Retherford of the United States in the final of the men's 70-kilogram freestyle The 24-year-old Narikuni became part of a mother-son world wrestling champion duo His mother Akiko won the women's 65-kg division at the 1990 and 1991 championships competing under her maiden name Iijima competing in his first world championships avoided repeated tackles by Retherford and got behind his opponent's back before pulling off a couple of ankle holds for the win "I've finally come this far," Narikuni said "I want to thank everyone involved in my wrestling career I'm going to the 67-kg Greco-Roman style next Becoming a champion of both styles is my definitive goal." He aims to represent Japan in the 67-kg Greco-Roman style at the Paris Olympics in 2024 Narikuni gave Japan its sixth gold medal in the Serbian capital of Belgrade while becoming the first men's freestyle world champion from Japan since Takuto Otoguro won the 65-kg title in 2018 Daichi Takatani went to the men's 74-kg repechage round after his third-round loss to Slovakia's Tajmuraz Salkazanov His older brother Sosuke Takatani was eliminated in the second round of the 92-kg category THERE RESTS KEVIN DURANT Taishi Ito almost can't believe it's really him sprawled out on the top bunk in a dorm room at VCU in June 2005 stares at how Durant's arms and legs pour over the edges and ends of the bed Durant is too much person for the top bunk of a college dorm bed It doesn't help that he found out the week before that he was going to share a room with Durant -- and that Durant was transferring to Ito's school Ito is supposed to play his ass off against a bunch of future first-round NBA draft picks and be the welcome wagon for Durant On his way into their VCU suite, consisting of two rooms connected by a bathroom, Ito pops into the other room first. He introduces himself to its residents for the week, Thaddeus Young and Wayne Ellington That's where he finds Durant pretzeled onto a twin mattress 8 feet up in the air He watches as Durant maneuvers onto the bed's small ladder and then down to meet his roommate for the next four days They exchange pleasantries before Ito asks if he should take the top bunk Ito shrugs his shoulders and takes the bottom mattress He just assumed the much smaller person would be the top bunk guy in this situation he watches as Durant accordions himself up and down the ladder and it quickly becomes a running joke between them we were laughing a lot about it and going back and forth." They hit it off more than either one could have ever imagined which leads to the same silly scenario every night about everything from Durant's background to Japanese culture one of them thinks about the looming 7 a.m The new friendship unfolding at VCU 18 years ago kicked off what will end up being perhaps the most important 12 months of Durant's young life. He had already committed to Texas so he could have sleepwalked his way through this camp If you want to understand Kevin Durant now Durant made the difficult decision to transfer from power program Oak Hill Academy for his final year because he wanted to be pushed by everybody around him He thought he found exactly what he was looking for at Montrose Christian That the key to the whole thing would end up being a 6-foot guard from Japan Illustration by ESPNDURANT GREW UP in Maryland's Prince George's County home to a steady fire hose of college and pro basketball players for decades Durant's production and investment company even chronicled Prince George's in "Basketball County: In the Water," a Showtime documentary from 2020 Durant took the long way from Prince George's to Austin He had gone to Maryland's National Christian Academy as an impressive 6-2 freshman guard in 2002-03 but then experienced an incredible 5-inch growth spurt over the next year that put him into the five-star recruit conversation as a sophomore Durant had always believed basketball would be his path and now national recruiters suddenly realized it But Durant recognized that he had more work to do Durant met an elite strength and conditioning coach in the area Durant made it 20 minutes before Stein had him exhausted coiled on the ground in a heap "like a garden hose." When Stein asked his new trainee whether he liked the workout but I know this is what it's going to take." They started on a regular workout regimen after that Stein noticed right away that Durant had the talent and drive but he didn't really know what made the 15-year-old basketball prodigy tick On one memorable morning early in their relationship Durant had his hood up as they walked inside the Y They breezed through the entrance and past the front desk Stein smiled and nodded his head toward her Durant spun around and whipped his hood down This was the perfect spot for a teenager to blow off an elder When people ask Stein what Durant was like "He realized he hadn't shown good character and he corrected it right away," Stein says Stein helped build up Durant's physical self They focused on functional workouts and strength Durant was never going to set any bench press records (he famously got zero reps of 185 pounds at the NBA scouting combine in 2007) By the time he got to the end of his sophomore year of high school But he could hold up against some of the best frontcourt players in the nation In his mind, though, there was still so much work to do. He didn't want to be great; he wanted to be all-time great. He had transferred to Oak Hill Academy as a junior and had a good year. He played with a bunch of blue-chip kids -- namely, Ty Lawson and Michael Beasley But Oak Hill was about six hours from home and he liked the idea of ratcheting up the pressure on himself he would hang up a piece of paper with the entire period scripted down to the exact minute (3:00-3:04 -- stretching; 3:05-3:07 -- light running) and Vetter would stop practice on occasion to ask a random player to recite the quote of the day Durant hung back as his parents peppered Vetter with questions about the school's academics Vetter kept stealing looks at Durant and began to worry that Durant might have been losing interest But it seemed as if the more Vetter laid out how challenging it was going to be Vetter was under the impression that they would go home and talk about enrolling at Montrose But Durant shook Vetter's hand on the way out and said Durant had recently committed to Texas and would play his final high school year at Montrose Christian A top-25 prep program was suddenly in the conversation for No Vetter gathered his coaching staff to start imagining the possibilities for his squad They couldn't help but let their eyes drift toward the last game on their schedule Beasley and a slew of other future Division I stars They knew Durant would want to win that game and they salivated over the ways they could pair Durant with Maryland-bound stars Greivis Vásquez and Adrian Bowie Everybody tossed around ideas on how they could help Durant achieve his specific goal of getting better on defense Vetter and his coaches arrived at what might have been the key to this whole thing working "Make sure Kevin Durant goes everywhere Taishi Ito goes," Vetter said Coaches say Ito was easily the hardest-working player on his team at Montrose Christian. Joel Richardson/The The Washington Post via Getty ImagesWHEN ITO ARRIVED in Maryland from Japan in 2002 Vetter set the ninth-grader up with a host named Louise Osborne She was a widowed local 75-year-old retired nurse people called "Grandma" because she was a natural caretaker When the opportunity to house a kid from Japan arose Grandma's house was set up well to host one other person and he made the 10-minute walk to Montrose every morning between 5 and 6 a.m He tried to get to school two hours early and would work out by himself He did footwork drills and worked on his conditioning and his shooting touch Ito had realized right away that as a 6-foot-on-a-good-day freshman as the only guy on the team who couldn't dunk he was going to have to rely on scrapping and outhustling his bigger that everybody else began to mimic his work ethic all those guys Ito was trying to keep up with had to hustle to keep pace with Ito He still had stretches when he felt as if he was an inch too short and 20 pounds too small to hang with the fleet of Division I athletes swarming around him The only thing he knew to do was show up 15 minutes earlier the next day to work out by himself That's why the bond he forged with Durant at VCU was so critical he had found a teammate who was about to make his life much But Ito also felt as if he had just met the kind of person who could balance the universe a bit for him Durant began working out with Montrose players He clicked almost immediately with the basketball team But the rest of the Montrose Christian experience proved tough early on Durant had begun the year commuting as much as possible from his mom's house 45 minutes away He has talked in the past (Durant declined an interview request for this story) about riding multiple trains to get to Montrose at the beginning of that year he began to feel stretched a little too thin So Ito asked Grandma whether it'd be OK if a teammate stayed over one night strewn on an air mattress because he hung halfway off the pullout couch Durant was staying with Ito and Grandma every night during the week Their friendship had practically morphed into an extended version of camp week at VCU They continued to talk about their backgrounds and Ito found Durant so easy to talk to that he would often let down his guard and confide to him his anxiety around not feeling like he was good enough some days "We're going to regret this in the morning," one of them would say Ito described life and basketball in Japan adjusting to life at three different high schools and what he wanted from Montrose which played into what he wanted for his life: to learn how to grow into an NBA legend Most nights ended without a purposeful final "Good night." They just kind of talked and talked and talked .. he relished the opportunity to stand up and turn off his alarm air usually cleared out any leftover cobwebs Durant bounced out of bed every morning for the first few weeks He felt the jitters and excitement of being at a new school playing with new teammates and a new coaching staff and that propelled him off his inflatable bed every morning Durant and Ito were usually the only two players at the school that early Many of his old coaches and teammates joke that Durant is constitutionally incapable of walking past a basketball without picking it up and dribbling it and then shooting it Coach Barnes had to ban Durant from practicing after games Barnes made him a compromise of only being allowed to shoot free throws after games Barnes told assistant coach Russell Springmann that he'd be fired if Durant did anything more than that "He's never ever gonna walk away from a chance to shoot a basketball," Barnes says basketball at Montrose wore off pretty quickly The ugly mornings began to pile up on Durant Soon Ito found himself telling Durant twice that it was time to get up "Waking him up was a pain in the butt," Ito says Durant still splayed across the air mattress He'd always go upstairs and drag his feet for a minute or two just long enough to hear his friend start to scramble out of bed He never wanted to leave Durant behind -- and he never had to Ito would hear Durant traipse up the steps "Taishi had something about him that was so magnetic and attractive and you just wanted to follow that kid," says Stein who had been hired at Montrose as the strength and conditioning coach "When he said he's getting up at 5 to go get up some shots their nights and mornings got more and more intense Durant scuffled with the relentlessness of the coursework "This is what Texas is going to be like," he'd tell Ito and Durant would help Ito with vocabulary and English assignments Durant focused on his footwork and using his length better on defense He had always tried to guard close to the body of his opponents practically strangling most guards and forwards with his enormous wingspan But the Montrose coaches began to press him on hanging back a bit His length could actually be just as effective from a foot or two off ball handlers which would then eliminate any quickness advantage speedier players might have had They began playing one-on-one games against each other Durant absolutely torched Ito -- he was just too good But Ito proposed two rules that evened the playing field Durant objected initially but eventually caved and agreed Ito asked that their one-on-one games be full-court although he would later petition -- gently and ultimately unsuccessfully -- to go back to half-court up and down the entire length of the court he could play off Ito and make it a nightmare to get around him to get the ball up the court Ito could pester in Durant's grille for the full 84 feet tiring him out and occasionally picking his pocket The two would sometimes be exhausted before 8 a.m. with a full day of classes and practice ahead of them Things occasionally got a little chippy between them Ito remembers multiple days when they stomped off the court in the morning and didn't speak all day Then they'd silently study late into the night Those might have been the only nights they actually went to bed at a reasonable hour One good sleep always seemed to dull the friction They'd hobble out of Grandma's basement every morning with a clean slate "We'd just go back to being friends again." Durant and Ito were inseparable during their senior year of high school. Courtesy of Taishi ItoOn weekends Durant would often go home and spend time with his family Sometimes a tutor would come over to work with Ito or Durant on schoolwork and they would sit in the dining room and study and Durant would try to pay one of Grandma's grandkids to do the dishes If that all sounds like too much for a 75-year-old retiree She was amused by the banter of the young people in her house and she didn't like the peace of an empty house to think back on the frenetic image of Ito making mounds of rice chicken and vegetables for anybody at the house that day with KD carefully plotting how he could avoid dish duty After three years of sharing a house with Ito Grandma had grown to love him like an adopted son when Ito's parents would travel to see him from Japan once or twice a year Osborne would actually go stay with a relative somewhere else and leave her house to the Itos she took him to driving lessons and then to the test She still fondly remembers waving goodbye to him and Durant as they made their regular trips to the mall where they'd watch a movie and get Chipotle and she started calling them the Three Musketeers Montrose Christian opened as USA Today's No with a loaded schedule that culminated in the ultimate final game of the season -- against Durant's old school Durant was a force at Montrose Christian and helped the team reach a 20-2 record as he wound down a remarkable high school career. Preston Keres/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesMONTROSE CHRISTIAN started the 2005-06 season at No averaging 23.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game It wasn't going to win the national title .. but it did have one large carrot dangling in front of it: the season finale against Durant's old school 1 in the nation and in the midst of a 56-game winning streak a chunk of that winning streak had happened with Kevin Durant wearing a Warriors jersey A spill-out crowd of 4,000 packed into Coolidge High in D.C for what was supposedly a neutral-site game Montrose was ranked 12th in the country; Oak Hill was the clear No The game had become a sort of rivalry because both schools were really good and Durant's transfer added some juice to the 2006 matchup Lawson and Nolan Smith (future Dukie) in the lineup DraftKings would have probably had Montrose as a double-digit underdog that day Ito confided in Durant that he felt like he had at that VCU camp -- as if he might struggle against such talented guards on the other side "You're going to be fine," Durant insisted You gotta bring the ball up and play tough defense." There was something about the way Durant talked to Ito that calmed him and Durant's belief in Ito caused Ito to believe in himself Ito felt more and more confident in his own granular mission On grainy YouTube footage of the local broadcast it's hard to believe these are high school teams Both rosters are stockpiled with future college and NBA players and the rowdy crowd looks as if it was at an NBA Finals game He flies around and over Oak Hill players all game and if his Texas coaches had been at the game they would have had to cover their eyes watching him play with absolute abandon "He could have literally played for us on Friday night and then played for the Wizards on Saturday afternoon," Vetter says Oak Hill drubs Vetter's team well into the fourth quarter Durant had willed Montrose to even get to within that margin (he'd finish with 31 points and 6 rebounds) the announcers seem to be dribbling out the clock on an Oak Hill blowout Durant picks up his fourth foul as Oak Hill goes up 64-48 but people do seem to be gathering their stuff didn't get the alert that the game was over Durant scores six points in about 12 seconds (3-pointer Ito gets an open look on a 3 and swishes it Montrose finds itself tied 72-72 with a minute left Lawson brings the ball up and seems content to hold for the last shot But Vásquez and Ito dog Oak Hill's guards and force a turnover Now Montrose has the ball with 20 seconds left and a chance to win He battles to get a semi-open look from the arc but has a hand in his face as he launches a long 3-point attempt The Montrose bench explodes onto the floor Ito can't remember most of the rest of that night He thinks Durant came back to Grandma's house later that night He knows he left the gym that night as happy as he had ever been closer than ever with his friend and spiritual adviser about this glorious win being his last as a high school basketball player the last time he'd probably ever play on the same court as Durant Ito thinks he and Durant celebrated quietly in the basement again talking way later than they had intended Ito went to bed that night with a big old smile on his face And he came to the decision that making a lifelong friend trumps never suiting up alongside Durant again I knew he was going to do his best in college and then go to the NBA Durant went off to Texas the next year, became the national player of the year and then went No. 2 in the draft behind Greg Oden By the midpoint of his rookie year with the then-Seattle Supersonics Durant had emerged as the NBA Rookie of the Year and a rising megastar Ito and Durant stayed in touch by text and the occasional phone call Ito got an offer to the University of Portland where he played four years in the West Coast Conference the hardest-working guy in a locker room where he might not have had the most natural talent Ito got a call from Durant inviting him to come to a Sonics-Blazers game near his school Durant mentioned that his first line of Nikes "I thought he meant that he had a shoe coming out and he wrote my name on a pair that I could have," Ito says The next day, he saw the shoes for the first time and realized the truth: Ito had such a profound effect on Durant that every pair of KD1s had Taishi Ito's name on the soles I didn't know you put my name on the design," Ito said Ito and Durant catch up at a Thunder game during Durant's playing days in Oklahoma City. Courtesy Taishi ItoONE NIGHT IN JULY 2021 who was in Tokyo with Team USA for the Olympics Durant had told The Athletic he had two major reasons for joining Team USA Ito saw that Durant's hotel was only 10 minutes away and Japan was in near complete lockdown still from COVID-19 Ito wasn't sure he'd even be able to meet Durant in the hotel lobby But Durant told him he really wanted to see him and Durant was the only other person around They shared a big hug and sat there together with their masks on Ito had brought him a gift: Durant's favorite Japanese candy Durant warned him that he had only a few minutes before he had to get upstairs and go to bed They had stayed in touch via text and an occasional check-in -- every time Ito talked to Grandma she'd insist on him texting Durant that "Grandma says hello." Durant would always reciprocate They both realized a short hangout in a hotel lobby couldn't catch them up on their busy lives Ito tried to ask about Durant's life at the top of the NBA Durant kept steering the conversation toward Ito He had heard about Ito's recent retirement from basketball to take a GM job with a pro team in Tokyo and he wanted to know what lay ahead for Ito in management "Tell me about your next career," Durant said "I'd love to get you on the team." They laughed about how Ito probably didn't have enough draft capital to get KD out of the NBA and onto Ito's Tokyo roster They kept looking at the clock and trying to wind down for the night But then they'd start reminiscing about Grandma and they'd go back and forth some more Durant began to walk toward his hotel room as Ito headed for the exit But for the first time in their friendship they weren't going to regret it in the morning Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery. Visit the official website here Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without acknowledgment of Gematsu is prohibited Use of this site is governed by all applicable laws Website by 44 Bytes Metrics details Regorafenib has shown significant survival benefit as a salvage therapy for colorectal cancer; however its starting dose has been controversial in recent studies we conducted a prospective study on the efficacy and safety of the dose reduction of regorafenib to 120 mg Patients received 120 mg regorafenib once per day for 3 weeks The primary endpoint was the investigator-assessed disease control rate (DCR) and the DCR was 38.3% with a median progression-free survival of 2.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9–3.7) and median overall survival of 10.0 months (95% CI 6.9–15.2) Common grade 3–4 adverse events were hand-foot skin reaction and hypertension (20.0% each) The results of administration of 120 mg regorafenib as the starting dose are consistent with reports from prior phase III trials This lower initiating dose of regorafenib may be beneficial to certain patient populations This clinical trial was registered in the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR number UMIN000018968 we sought to determine whether the safety of continued regorafenib treatment could be enhanced while maintaining a similar level of efficacy This REGOCC-12 trial (UMIN registry identifier: UMIN000018968) is a multicentre Phase II exploratory study conducted at 31 institutions in Japan Ethical approval of the study protocol was granted by Osaka University Research Ethics Review Committee The trial was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and the Good Clinical Practice guidelines All patients provided written informed consent before enrolment an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) of 0–1 For patients who required a dose interruption regorafenib treatment was only resumed during the oral administration period of each cycle (day 1–21) The primary endpoint was the investigator-assessed disease control rate (DCR) for the initial 120 mg/day dosage defined as the proportion of patients with best overall complete response (CR) or stable disease (SD) based on the RECIST guidelines DCR was analysed using the intention-to-treat analysis Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) Safety analysis was performed in the safety population which comprised patients who received ≥ one dose of regorafenib while the corresponding values for the Japanese subset and placebo groups were 40% and 15% we set the threshold value at 27% considering that it would be clinically meaningless if the DCR deteriorated by 30% or more Considering these results with an expected DCR of up to 40% with regorafenib 120 mg/day and a threshold DCR of 27% a sample proportion test was possible using normal approximation Sixty patients were enrolled and registered in this study between September 2015 and March 2017, and 58 of them began the study treatment as 2 patients were unable to start treatment due to rapid disease progression. Table 1 shows patient characteristics The mean (standard deviation) and median (range) regorafenib treatment periods were 2.9 (2.2) and 2.0 (0.2–11.0) months, respectively, whereas the mean actual daily dose and dose intensity were 108.9 (16.4) mg and 71.0% (22.6%) when 120 mg was taken as 100%, respectively (Supplementary Table S2) Swimmer plot of regorafenib dosing history A summary of the weekly dosing history of each patient up to cycle 11 is shown The symbol at the right end of each bar indicates the reason for treatment termination: +due to adverse event Progression free survival (PFS) during the study. CI confidence interval. Overall survival (OS) during the study In this study, 97% of patients showed some form of AEs, which are listed in Table 2 The most frequent AE was hand-foot skin reaction and the most frequent events of all grades observed in over 50% of patients were hypertension (57%) and increased AST (60%) The AEs ≥ grade 3 observed in ≥ 5% of patients were hand-foot skin reaction (20%) Although 41 patients died during the study period all mortalities were due to exacerbation of the primary disease and the median survival period reached 10 months indicating that the results might be adequate to support the tested regimen being a salvage treatment although the treatment starting dose was reduced to 120 mg the dose intensity was at the same level as that of the CORRECT study This observation suggests that because the starting doses differed between the two studies the actual daily dose in the present study was lower than that in the CORRECT study we predicted that setting a low starting dose would reduce the incidence rate of serious AEs (caused by a high dose we predicted that the dose intensity in this study would be higher than that in the CORRECT study (78.9%) because the final treatment dose would achieve the same level of efficacy regardless of whether the starting dose was 160 mg or 120 mg as the dose intensity in the present study was 71.0% 75.6% of patients needed a dose modification and the present study showed similar but not lower values with 75.9% of patients needing dose modifications The incidence rate of AEs ≥ grade 3 in the present study may seem comparable to that reported in the CORRECT study (51%) at first glance; however it is necessary to note that while the present study did not collect TRAE data but treatment-emergent AEs (TEAEs) data the CORRECT study findings were based on TRAEs which permitted dose reductions from the beginning showed TEAEs and TRAEs ≥ grade 3 in 45% and 35% of patients The values of the CORRELATE study were lower than those of the CORRECT and CONSIGN study the TRAE value in our study may be lower than 55% These facts also suggest that it is important not to cause discontinuation due to AEs by starting from a reduced dose it has been speculated that large individual differences exist in the capacity to metabolise regorafenib no conclusion has been reached on whether the optimum starting dose of regorafenib should be 160 mg for all patients and several outstanding issues need to be resolved we hope that the results of this study will facilitate the establishment of the most effective administration strategy for regorafenib The data supporting the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author after approval from the Osaka University Research Ethics Review Committee The data are not publicly available since they contain information that could compromise the patients’ privacy Wilhelm, S. 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We also would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing This work was supported by The Supporting Center for Clinical Research and Education (SCCRE) with research contract funding from Bayer Yakuhin National Hospital Organization Osaka National Hospital Department of Frontier Science for Cancer and Chemotherapy Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine Toshihiro Kudo was associated with a donated fund laboratory of Yakult Honsha Co. and received lecture fees from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. The other authors have no conflict of interest to declare Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24057-0 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Taishi Kato is a licensed Shinto priest with a master's degree in Asian and African religions and an out-of-the-box style of thinking who earned his degree at the University of London has turned to running as he searches for a unique way to give religion new meaning in a changing world "We have to think about how to attract people to the shrine and how to plan for future changes," Kato said Kato was born as the eldest son of a multigenerational family serving their 1,000-year-old shrine His father is the chief priest there and he is the senior priest The shrine is famous for honoring the god of feet and it is frequented by people who pray for pain relief and for help healing what ails them go there to write their prayers on wooden "ema" plaques and offer them to the enshrined deities Pro athletes and celebrities are also among those who have visited to worship With runners regularly giving their feet a hard time Kato saw a synergy that would allow him to reach out to a whole new group of enthusiasts with his shrine offering a way for them to help ward off injury Shrines used to be a public gathering place and social center of the community where events marking significant milestones were held shichigosan (celebration of children reaching the ages of 3 and yakuyoke (event to exorcise evil spirits) are among popular Shinto practices and now pandemic restrictions have proven shrines must become more flexible Kato's mission is to bring people back to the shrine and re-energize the ancient institution When he started working under his father in the spring of 2021 after serving in Dazaifu Tenmangu in Fukuoka Prefecture Kato felt it was time to rebrand his shrine and make it appeal to a wider demographic Kato wanted to reach beyond the ujiko (local parish) and sukeisha (outside worshippers) to create a hybrid shrine model while figuring out where culture is going He thought that introducing the god of feet to the ever-growing running community would be a good place to start especially when low-risk outdoor activities were encouraged in pandemic times Kato himself took up running and connected with other runners via social media in an effort to interact and spread his message Hattori Tenjingu soon became a community hub for runners are now a huge hit for the protection they are said to provide "I am blessed to have such supportive community members in our corner," Kato said who became the first runner from Japan to complete the grueling seven continents adventure marathon in 2017 who had a ritual of praying at a shrine before every race said he was inspired by the forward-thinking priest who is working to stem the flow of young adults moving away from religion Kato and Kitada are organizing a festival on Oct which will bring runners from all over the country together to celebrate their passion Runners will deliver food ingredients in relay style to the shrine and offer them to the gods before eating together "I'll continue to host events for runners but I need a bigger dream to create an even more vibrant community," Kato said The running priest also wants to make use of his time studying abroad to help further Shinto's global spread "I'm exploring the intersections of lifestyle habits and ways to become the spokesman for a message with universal appeal." This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page which provides digital IP infrastructure to music companies including record labels The company says the move marks its first major expansion and is thanks to a new partnership with PRTL With over a decade of experience in the global music industry Revelator says that Fukuyama has “a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing artists Revelator says it will leverage Fukuyama’s expertise to bring its Web2 and Web3 solutions to “a market that is experiencing rapid streaming growth and is wildly enthusiastic about NFTs” Revelator offers labels and artists a range of tools for managing their music The company says that with Fukuyama’s understanding of the local and global music industry it will be able to tailor its solutions “to meet the unique needs of the Japanese market” In January Revelator launched its NFT payment infrastructure in partnership with Stripe Inc “Fukuyama’s knowledge and experience in the Japanese market will be invaluable as we work to bring our digital solutions to artists and labels in the region.” “Japan is one of the fastest growing markets for digital music with its own unique characteristics,” said Bruno Guez “Japanese music fans are like no others and I believe will embrace Web3 faster than other markets We are excited to partner with Taishi Fukuyama to expand our presence in the region “I am thrilled to partner with Revelator to bring their cutting-edge solutions to Japanese artists Taishi Fukuyama added: “I am thrilled to partner with Revelator to bring their cutting-edge solutions to Japanese artists “Revelator’s Web2 and Web3 solutions have the potential to revolutionize the way that artists and labels manage their music while also enabling turnkey solutions for distributors to offer direct artist-fan engagement I look forward to working with them in the Japanese market.”Music Business Worldwide Stay on top of the real stories shaping the music industry: Join over 60,000 industry professionals who rely on MBW's FREE daily newsletter and alert emails for essential insights and breaking news — The Tampa Bay Rays signed Naoyukui Uwasawa to a minor-league contract with the chance to make the opening-day roster with the big league club Uwasawa’s dream of playing in the major leagues began five years ago while pitching for the Japanese national team against Team USA I tried to watch the games over here,” Uwasawa said via team interpreter Taishi Terashima Uwasawa had another major league offer from another team but chose to sign a minor-league contract with Tampa Bay because of the team’s reputation for getting the very best out of their pitchers I am going to compete for a spot on the opening day roster,” he said I’m still going to work to get better as a pitcher in Triple-A The 30-year-old right-hander has played pro ball since 2013 He’s a three-time all-star and has a career 3.19 ERA He spent the last nine seasons with the Pacific League’s Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters “I asked — I can’t believe it — I asked him how long he’s played for and he said ‘12 years.’ He looks like he’s 18 years old,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said Uwasawa has a youthful exuberance and the motivation to improve “This is my year to show everyone in the States what I am capable of doing,” he said “They offered me an opportunity to grow as a pitcher “He’s done a lot of really good things over in that league and we’re fortunate that we have him over here He seemed very eager to get with Kyle [Snyder] see what was going to help him be the best version of himself over here in this league But just impressed with how excited he was to be here and kind of ingrain himself within the clubhouse.” Uwasawa does have a March 23 assignment clause in his contract — meaning if another team says it will add him to their 40-man roster Report a typo Taking place in the Sengoku period of Japan Nobunaga’s Ambition: Taishi allows players to choose from one of many different scenarios you will choose a real-life daimyo from the period run a clan and hopefully unite Japan under one leadership However this game can be played in any manner you would like the course of Japan’s history is quite literally in your hands trading and judicious use of force by outmaneuvering or allying with all other opposing daimyos in the game as I do not have the experience with the previous games something I really appreciated about this title is the personality traits given to each clan Something you will have to constantly keep in mind of is the goals and aspirations of each daimyo and clan as all leaders had different ambitions to achieve really making sure each clan has something unique to them If you are able to play to these traits and ambitions accurately you will be rewarded by making allies with nearby clans however if you choose to do something that isn’t necessarily what your daimyo may do Something I could really appreciate about this game is the comprehensive tutorial system that is implemented in the game The tutorial explains the functions quite clearly with much detail and everything is laid out very nicely It will walk players through everything that needs to be thought about as well as how to manage each part of your empire a newcomer to the genre may want to look elsewhere as this game will still most likely come across as terribly overwhelming The first few hours of the game you will have to learn how to properly juggle military conquest with diplomacy economics and the development of your region and in doing so means page after page of menu screens featuring a plethora of different options to choose from I did find myself confused by some of the commands as some of the options were hard to locate It would be helpful if they were highlighted in some way to make finding where I wanted to go next but perhaps that is just my old lady eyes steering me in the wrong direction yet again And then we finally get to the battle portion of the game it is just as important here to carefully execute your plan of attack You’ll be taken to a map that shows where the enemies may be and you are given an area to move in it’s usually in best interest to try and circle around them to attack them from behind for an ambush if you are not properly equipped with the right armor and weapons you will most likely be going home empty-handed I found the battles thrilling at first as I thoroughly enjoy the mix of tactical turns that could be planned out however for those who prefer building up your regions with infrastructure and diplomacy there is an option to allow the AI to battle it out for you There is a lot about this game that could have players finding new characters ambitions of the daimyo’s and clans along with play styles for quite some time While the tutorial system is fantastic as it does very clearly show what maneuvers should be made may find the learning curve to be a bit steep However those who have been interested in the series but have not yet picked up the game Nobunaga’s Ambition: Taishi is certainly the kind of game that you can get lost in constantly muttering ‘one more turn’ while losing sleeping and playing into the wee hours of the morning *** PS4 code provided by the publisher ***